Today was RAT day.  This is the time of year when rats arrive, maybe from the Little Chef, to cash in on our  potatoes stored in the garage/car-port.  Corby found a couple of tails sticking out of a drawer and told Corbie to get rid of them.  I am clearing all unwanted potatoes and baiting a trap with fresh potato and bacon and might even put out some poison to sort them out.  Chased one around the room with a broom handle but it got away. Watch this space.

Harvested some cherry tomato from the polytunnel.  They continue to ripen slowly in spite of getting a touch frosted last week.

We are having pot-roast pheasant with celeriac and Blue Danube mash tonight.  This is inspired by Nigel Slater's new book, Tender.  This is his newest one on vegetables and is really sumptuous in its presentation. Slight problem with the celeriac.  It was sown very late but grew fast and the tops got very large in the new bed by the garden shed.  Well, when I dug up the first one just now, it had a tiny root.  So I had to save all the rootlets to get enough to cook.  We had no Marsala so substituted white wine and Futyulos (dry apricot brandy from Hungary).  Corby is doing a damson and Charles Ross crumble.